Electric razors with cutting foils and wet shave razors with cutting blades have been in use for many decades. With respect to electric razors, they comprise a pierced foil and cutter. The foil is generally electroformed from nickel, which provides a very sharp edge but of limited hardness. Electric razor foils are generally made by electroforming nickel. This is a relatively expensive process and the hardness of the resulting nickel cutting edges is not that high.
With respect to wet shave razors, the razor blades traditionally have a straight cutting edge that extends the length of the razor head. Safety razors have guards to control the position of the skin with respect to the cutting edge, so that the cutting edge rides over the skin but cuts protruding hair. Such razor blades have traditionally been made from high quality carbon steel. The innovation of using stainless steel has been fraught with the difficulty of forming and holding an ultra sharp edge. Ground ceramic razor blades tend to have a ragged microstructure rather than rounded, and consequently dig into skin rather than sliding over it.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide zirconia based blades and foils, and methods of fabrication thereof, that overcome the above-identified drawbacks of prior razors.